This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 11-052773, filed Mar. 1, 1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more specifically, to a type with an improved assembling property. In general, an electronic camera consists of an internal unit obtained by combining a lens tube, an imaging board, an electric board, mechanical parts and the like into a unit, and a front cover and a rear cover which cover the internal unit from the front and rear directions. Generally, the main functions of a camera, that is, the image forming and reproduction, are achieved only by the internal unit, and these functions can be inspected for making it effective in terms of assembling property and services. Such an internal unit is assembled, and then adjusted and tested, and the front cover and the rear cover are put thereon to finish the camera.
The internal unit includes a frame used for mounting parts such as the lens tube, the imaging board and the like, as well as for maintaining the rigidity of the camera after it is completed. In usual cases, an electronic camera is required to be made small in size, and therefore the parts such as the lens tube, imaging board, electric board, finder are assembled with the frame at high density.
In the meantime, it is usual that the lens tube is mounted onto the front surface side of the frame, and the imaging board and the like are mounted onto the rear surface side. With this structure, the lens tube is mounted such that it is inserted into the opening section provided in the frame along its optical axial direction, and then the proximal end side of the lens tube is connected to the imaging board.
The above-described conventional electronic camera entails the following problem. That is, the lens tube and the imaging board are separately mounted onto the frame, and they are connected to each other via a flexible cable or the like. The imaging board is mounted to be laminated on some other electric board. The lens tube mainly consists of mechanical parts, and therefore in many cases, the tube is subjected to the test and adjustment solely or in combination with the imaging board at the stage of testing and adjustment and the like of the internal unit, or the stage of servicing, since these mechanical parts have characteristics different from those other parts such as electric board. However, if these members are mounted on the frame as described above, other boards or parts must be removed for testing, and therefore the operational efficiency is extremely low.
The object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of easily removing or replacing the lens tube or the like, while the frame maintains its functions as the structure of the camera, without detaching other electric parts already assembled as an integral unit.
The present invention includes a photographing unit including a lens tube which holds a lens for forming an image of object light on a photographing element, and a photographing board disposed on a proximal end side of the lens tube, on which a photographing unit for outputting a signal photoelectric-converted by the photographing element, as an image signal, and a frame which holds each of a finder unit and an electric board, and has an opening section formed therein, which allows the photographing unit to be mounted on or removed from the frame along a direction which crosses with the optical axis of the lens.
According to the present invention, it becomes possible to remove or replace the lens tube or the like easily, while the frame maintains its functions as the structure of the camera, without detaching other electric parts already assembled as an integral unit.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.